What You're Capable Of
by Cinomarsh
Summary: Mrs. Lovett does something she never dreamed she'd do...
1. What have I done?

It had been a slow day at Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Emporium. The shop was empty today, a rare sight, and no one had gone up to the barber shop. Mrs. Lovett could clearly hear Mr. Todd's pacing in the shop above as she cleaned tables and countertops in an attempt to keep herself busy.

She wandered idly to the window and gazed out into the gloom that was Fleet Street. She noticed that Mr. Warster's book shop was open. Mrs. Lovett hated Mr. Warster. He didn't know that, but she hated him more than anyone else in the world. He was cruel to Toby whenever he had the chance, taunting him and making him feel awful. It was disgusting.

Just then, she saw Toby coming up the street.

_Please don't notice him_, she silently begged.

As if on cue, Toby stopped and picked up a book from a table outside of the shop. Mr. Warster stormed out, snatched the book from the boy and started yelling something Mrs. Lovett couldn't hear. She saw Toby try to answer and watched in horror as the book shop owner lifted his arm and brought it down upon the boy's cheek. He promptly spun around and walked back into his establishment.

Toby stood, shocked, for a moment before bolting through the door of the pie shop.

"Mum!" He cried, running to Mrs. Lovett.

She engulfed him in a huge hug, examining his cheek and petting his hair soothingly.

"'E's terrible..." Whimpered Toby.

"I know, love..." The baker told him, "I know."

She led the boy into the parlor and got him a glass of gin. The boy took it from her hands appreciatively. Mrs. Lovett smiled sympathetically at him and walked into the kitchen.

"'Orrible man..." She said to herself as she continued to rearrange the chaos of her shop. "A menace. Can't just go around 'itting children like that, it's wrong! Someone ought to..." She trailed off and began to think. She couldn't come up with a good excuse to get the man into the barber shop, and she knew Mr. Todd wouldn't care enough to help. So she decided that it would be best, for Toby, if she were to take matters into her own hands.

That night, after Toby had gone to bed and the bell on the door to the barber shop had chimed for the last time, Mrs. Lovett waited outside the door to her closed pie shop. She knew Mr. Warster lived alone, and what she was about to do made her want to vomit, but she knew she had to do it. This man deserved it. Or at least that's what she told herself...

Finally, the door to the book shop opened, and the tall, greasy-haired Mr. Warster began moving his wares inside.

"Mr. Warster!" Mrs. Lovett called him.

His head snapped up to stare at her, suprised, and the baker realized uncomfortably that wearing a low-cut dress had certainly served it's purpose. She had his attention.

"Would you come here a moment?" She flashed him a coy smile and winked.

His eyebrows went up and he wandered across the street to her.

Mrs. Lovett giggled, trying to portray her role as best she could.

"Mr. Warster, there's something I've... Well... Wanted to show you for a long time. Follow me." She told the book shop owner as she opened the door to the pie shop and beckoned for him to follow, smiling all the while.

They walked through the kitchen and into the parlor, Mrs. Lovett putting a finger to her lips to make sure the man wouldn't wake Toby.

They tiptoed down the stairs to the bakehouse. _'E must've been alone a while_, The woman thought, _'e's desperate_.

Finally they reached the bakehouse door. Mrs. Lovett unlocked it, opened it, and gave Mr. Warster another dazzling smile.

"You first." She said, and he listened, a terrible, perverted hunger in his eyes that Mrs. Lovett would not soon forget.

She closed the door behind them and turned on him. He looked around the room, confused, not noticing the bones or the limbs in the shadows. Mrs. Lovett took a deep breath and removed the straight razor, which she'd taken from Sweeney's box earlier that day, from her sleeve.

"What's going on?" Mr. Warster asked, clearly annoyed that her invitation had not yielded what he'd been hoping.

Mrs. Lovett felt the cool metal in her hand and knew what she could do with it. She knew her partner in crime kept his friends very, very sharp. She felt power over this man. She liked it.

She looked at the disgruntled man with an innocent expression and walked towards him while she unfolded the razor.

"Shhh," she told him, "it'll be over in just a moment."

In one quick motion, as if she'd been doing it all her life, the baker raised her razor to the revolting man's throat and dug it into his flesh, his blood spurting out almost instantly, covering the floor, her dress, her arms and her face.

The man's eyes were wide now, filled with primal terror. He made a few awful gurgling noises before falling to his knees and finally to his side. The blood pooled beneath him as his features went slack.

Mrs. Lovett was shocked. She didn't understand. She'd seen plenty of dead bodies, sure, but she'd never thought she was capable of actually killing someone! Her heart pounded in her chest and the power she'd felt a moment ago was gone, replaced by fear. She'd killed someone. What did that make her? This was a human being with a life and thoughts and hopes and she'd just completely destroyed it.

Mrs. Lovett, bloody and terrified, knew of only one person she could go to.


	2. Help me!

**Okay, so I got some great reviews on my first chapter so I'm almost confident posting my next chapter! I hope you like it (and that it's not too OOC) and remember, if you review I'm more likely to actually post another chapter!**

Mrs. Lovett entered Sweeney Todd's Tonsorial Parlor and, just as she'd feared, the bell on the door chimed (much louder tonight than she remembered). The figure in the chair didn't stir. Mrs. Lovett had never seen the barber while he was asleep before, and for a moment she just stared at him.

He was leaned back in his chair, his head tilted to the side. His face was expressionless and almost peaceful, but his entire body seemed to be twitching, and as she watched she saw his face contort into an expression of fear, one emotion she'd never seen on him before. Mrs. Lovett imagined he was having a nightmare, but she didn't have time to wait and see. She was desperate.

"Mr. Todd." She hissed. Nothing.

"Mr. Todd!" She tried again. Still nothing.

"MR. TODD!" She said (as loudly as she could while still whispering), shaking him.

His eyes snapped open and he shot Mrs. Lovett a murderous glare, angry at being woken up and caught off guard, but the woman thought she saw his expression soften just the tiniest bit when he saw it was her. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but he seemed to have a soft spot for her, wether he knew it or not. His expression quickly changed again, from anger to confusion.

"Why are you covered in blood?" He asked her simply.

Mrs. Lovett's hands began to tremble. One of them still held the razor tightly behind her back.

"The man... across the street... 'E was awful to Toby, just awful... So I lured 'im into the bakehouse an'... An' I..." She trailed off, her whole body shaking badly now.

Sweeney's face faded from confusion to utter disbelief.

"No." He said. "Not a chance. You didn't." He sounded as though he was trying to convince himself.

Mrs. Lovett raised one shaking arm to hand him back his razor, coated in the book shop owner's blood.

Sweeney stared at it for a moment.

"You stole my razor..." He stood up, causing Mrs. Lovett to flinch ever so slightly, "An' you killed someone with it?" His dark, fathomless eyes that she had come to adore bored into her now. She nodded vigorously. Sweeney stiffened.

"Show me."

By the time the pair tiptoed down to the bakehouse, Mrs Lovett was shaking so badly that Sweeney had to unlock the door for her. He opened it to reveal Mr. Warster's body, bloody and empty looking, lying on the floor. The firelight eerily danced off the corpse as the barber and baker went over to stare at it.

Sweeney lightly kicked the man onto his back, kneeling down to examine the deep gash in his throat. He stood up again, shaking his head and circling the body.

Mrs. Lovett had no clue what he was doing. She bit her lip and wrung her hands and waited for him to say something. Finally, he looked up at her, surveying the blood covering her and the terrified expression on her face. Finally he looked her directly in the eye and smirked. Mrs. Lovett was shocked. She hadn't seen him smile at all in what seemed like forever and now, here she was, terrified and covered in blood and being smirked at by the love of her life. She was dreadfully confused.

"How does it feel?" He asked her.

If the woman had had any idea of what to expect, this would not have been her guess.

"I... I..."

She was caught completely off guard. She stared at the lifeless pile of meat and bone on the floor and remembered the fire she'd felt every time she'd seen him and her rage when he'd hurt Toby. She remembered the power she'd felt over him in his final moments and suddenly her hands stopped wringing and she stopped biting her lip and she was overcome by an unbelievable calm. This monster would never again walk the streets of London or hurt anyone else. She never had to look at him again.

"I feel..." She couldn't find the right words. She looked up from the body and into Sweeney Todd's eyes and grinned, and for the first time, he grinned back.

The man strolled over to stand in front of her. He was taller than she was, but not enough so that looking him in the eye was a struggle. She wasn't used to him being so close...

"Wash the blood off of yourself an' out of your dress an' remember to dispose of the body." He said, his grin faded to a simple smile. The demon barber then gave Nellie Lovett a small kiss on the cheek before leaving her alone in the bakehouse.


	3. Why?

**Okay, well this went in a bit of a Sweenetty direction but hey, what can I say, they're my OTP! Anyways, I hope you enjoy. Do NOT own.**

The next day, Sweeney was in his shop waiting, as usual, for a customer, only today he wasn't pacing. He had a lot to think about and pacing wouldn't help.

He kept running over the previous night in his head. He'd always had a fascination with the woman living downstairs; her effortless energy, her practicality and cleverness, her strange attachment to the boy. But this added a new mystery for him. Perhaps she'd truly killed for the boy, believed that it was best, but the barber doubted that. There was something dark inside her, not unlike the something dark he knew he had inside himself. There always had been, he knew first-hand, but it was showing itself now, and Sweeney wanted to know more.

Just then, the bell rang on the shop door. Sweeney turned to see a terrified Toby, placing his breakfast on the trunk and attempting to leave as soon as possible. Sweeney silently applauded the boy's good judgement of him, but he needed him at the moment.

"Toby."

Toby spun around, trying to hide the fear in his eyes and failing miserably.

"Mr. Todd?" He asked quietly.

"Would you tell Mrs. Lovett that I'd like a word with 'er?" He asked.

Toby's face showed relief immediately.

"Yes sir." He said, and bolted out the door.

What seemed like only moments later, Mrs. Lovett was walking in and closing the door behind her. She looked up at the barber expectantly.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Why did you do it?" He asked, getting directly to the point.

Mrs. Lovett looked slightly concerned. Sweeney didn't know why.

"You mean...?" She asked, making a slashing motion across her throat as if she was scared to say it. Sweeney smiled just a little and nodded.

"I told you," she said, "'e 'it Toby an' I was angry!"

"That can't 'ave been it." He told her. "There's more. I know it." He stalked over to the window, turning his back on her. He stared down at the people on the street briefly, realized it wasn't helping him think, and turned to look at the woman again. She was examining his chair, but when she noticed him looking at her she held his gaze.

"Do you have a past, Mrs. Lovett?" He inquired, taking a few slow steps towards her.

"Everybody's got a past, love." She told him. Sweeney noticed that the longer she stayed in the shop the less on edge she was.

"Yes, but what happened in yours?"

Mrs. Lovett sighed. "Well, my father 'it me when I was a girl. I didn't like that much. We were always poor, an' everyone I knew who wasn't would laugh at me an' my family an' look down on us, so that could've been better. I tried to 'ave a new start with Albert, but the shop failed and Albert... Well..." She paused. "You know what happened to 'im." She paused again, thinking. "When I saw Mr. Warster look down on and 'urt Toby, I suppose I just... Couldn't 'andle it." She let out a small sigh, and the man thought he could see a flicker of something behind those huge, innocent brown eyes.

He was processing everything she'd said now, trying to put together her actions and her words.

"She has secrets, too..." He mumbled to himself. His head suddenly snapped up.

"Would you do it again?" He asked. "Would you kill again?" Sweeney wanted to see her kill. He wanted someone to understand the feeling. And he wanted that someone to be her. He knew she loved him; he knew almost everything about who she was as a person. He always listened when she spoke and although she may feel differently than he did for her, he did have actual feelings surrounding her, which was definitely something.

"I- Um-" The woman stammered, "I don't think I'd do what I did last night again."

"But if someone gave you the opportunity..." He tried again. She nodded almost too quickly.

He walked over to her and took her hand. She looked positively shocked, but he paid her no mind as he pressed the shining silver of his friend into her warm hand and closed her fingers around it.

He locked eyes with her then, as he had always tried to avoid. She was not his wife, she never had been and never would be. But the way he felt when he looked at her made him wonder if maybe she didn't need to be his Lucy, his wife. Maybe she just needed to be his.


	4. I've got a feeling you'll need it

**Hello all! This one's pretty short but the next one's coming soon, promise! Thank you all so much for the great reviews!**

Mrs. Lovett stared into his eyes. She felt the razor in her hand and opened her mouth to speak, but just then the bell on the door rang and both the barber and baker started and turned to see who had come in.

It was a young lad, very tall and skinny, with shaggy blonde hair and just the very beginnings of a pathetic little beard. Mrs. Lovett sighed inwardly. Skinny customers were never of much use to her; this boy couldn't have had more meat on him than a cat. All the same, Mr. Todd gave the boy his most charming smile, assuring him that he wasn't interrupting anything and that Mrs. Lovett ran the pie shop downstairs and would be staying. The woman was surprised, but watched as Mr. Todd got out a large white cloth and tied it around his oblivious victim's neck. He then walked over to her and put his mouth inches from her ear, making her nervous.

"Stand behind him so you don't get blood all over yourself." He said, and, when she hesitated, "Quickly! He'll be suspicious!"

Mrs. Lovett gulped. She reassured herself that she'd done this before, that it didn't matter. She took a deep breath as she walked over to the chair, feeling the same delightful power she'd felt last night washing over her. She leaned down behind the chair, reaching her arm around the unsuspecting man and dragging the razor across his throat before he had a chance to see that it was her. The baker stepped back as the man clutched desperately at his throat, blood spurting from his gaping wound. It wasn't long before the body slumped back in the chair, limp and defeated.

She stared at him. She didn't feel the same fear she'd felt last night. The power didn't die away this time, and as she looked at Sweeney and saw him smiling at her, she also felt a sense of pride. She did it.

The man waltzed over to the chair, pressing the pedal with his foot and sending the body down the chute. He then made his way towards her and, reaching one hand around her waist, kissed her, pressing his lips onto hers passionately and pulling back before she had time to process what was happening. Her heart raced in her chest as a smile formed on her lips. He smiled back as he released her and walked over to the table at the end of the room to retrieve a rag.

Mrs. Lovett could not believe it. She looked down at her hands and saw next to no blood, but she was gripping the handle of the razor to the point where her knuckles were white. As Sweeney bent down to wipe some of the blood off the floor, she came over to him and held out the razor.

"'Ere." She said.

Sweeney merely smiled again and wiped the blood from the blade.

"'Old on to it." He told her, "I've got a feelin' you'll need it again,"

Mrs. Lovett, for once, didn't know what to say and rushed out of the barber shop, blushing.

Down in the pie shop she gazed out onto Fleet Street again, only this time it seemed brighter, cheerier. He had kissed her. _He_ had kissed _her_! The more she thought about it the more unreal it seemed to her. But the way he'd been looking at her today... It made her heart flutter. She couldn't believe it. She grinned to herself. Perhaps her killing people might be the start of something very good for her.


	5. Oh God

**I told you it'd be soon, didn't I? ;)**

A few weeks later, Toby was wandering around the shop when he saw Mrs. Lovett climbing the stairs from the bakehouse with a tray of her delicious meat pies. He could smell them as his mum passed, giving him an affectionate smile.

After she left, the boy noticed that she'd left the bakehouse door open, just slightly. _What's down there?_ he wondered. Mrs. Lovett's instructions to never go inside echoed in his mind, but something about it made him start down the stairs anyways.

He opened the huge metal door and saw the dark, terrifying bakehouse, illuminated by the fires of the huge oven in the middle of the room. A great meat grinder stood to his left. He felt a knot growing in his stomach as he walked over to the meat grinder and looked at the fresh meat inside of it. Something wasn't quite right about it, he could tell. He gulped and continued investigating the room. What could be down here that his mum would want to keep hidden from him?

He looked in every corner, every shadow, until he saw them. The limbs. Bloody hands and feet in a great pile in one of the many shadows. He started when he noticed them, and resisted the urge to be sick. His stomach flipped over and over again as his mind raced. He had to get out.

He ran up the stairs, shutting the door behind him. He ran out the back door of the shop and into the street, and then again into an empty alleyway. He slumped against a wall, closing his eyes and trying to blot out the images plaguing his mind.

This couldn't be possible. She couldn't be killing people. Not his mum, it didn't make sense. Mr. Todd then. Were they all his customers? It would explain a lot. Thinking back through all the time he'd spent working at the pie shop, Toby could only recall one or two instances where he'd actually seen one of the barber's customers leave the shop. So he'd kill his customers and then what? Toby felt his heart sink as he remembered the meat in the meat grinder. Mrs. Lovett must've been... The boy leaned over and vomited onto the ground, heaving over and over painfully until he felt as though he'd been emptied out completely. He'd eaten those pies. He'd eaten murder victims, the bodies of unsuspecting innocents. He couldn't stand it.

This couldn't possibly be true. Mrs. Lovett had been the one person in the world who had ever shown him any love or affection. She had taken him away from that terrible Pirelli, given him food and clothing and a job, but most of all a loving mother and a home. He had always been suspicious of the terrifying barber, staying in his shop all day, barely saying a word, always seeming to be angry, but Mrs. Lovett had never been anything less of a guardian angel to him. Even just a few weeks ago, when Mr. Warster had hit him, she'd-

All of Toby's conflicting thoughts and feelings fell silent.

Mr. Warster had disappeared the day after that.

Mrs. Lovett had either killed him or convinced Mr. Todd to do it, just because the man had hit him.

He knew it.

All of his emotions and thoughts came flying back and all molded into one solid feeling of betrayal and anger and frustration and despair as Toby curled up in a ball in the alley and started to cry. It started off as a few tears rolling down his cheeks, but soon escalated into full-blown sobs. His body shook and rocked back and forth as he tried to rid himself of the pain he couldn't express in words. Each heaving breath was a struggle as he tried over and over again to stop but the tears kept falling as tortured moans and cries tore from his throat. People on the street walked past him without a second thought. _They must think me mad_, Toby thought. He couldn't blame them. He thought himself a bit mad, too.

After the final sob had shaken his body, the final tear had fallen, and the final cry had escaped his lips, Toby stood up, empty and cold, and began to walk slowly towards the police station.


	6. What will happen?

Mrs. Lovett was having a very busy day. Her shop was full and Toby was nowhere to be found, which was a bit odd, but the woman didn't think much of it as she attacked the pie crust she was working on with her rolling pin.

_I saw him just a moment ago_, she thought, _He won't be long._

Just then, Sweeney Todd walked into her kitchen. She felt a warm smile grow on her lips automatically. Over the last few weeks, with their new and improved system, they had become... Closer. He gave her a small smile in return, coming around the counter and planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Not 'avin' much luck upstairs, I presume?" She asked him playfully. He shook his head.

"Empty." He told her, sounding disappointed.

Mrs. Lovett giggled at the lost puppy expression he wore. He'd never shown this side of himself to her before. Everything had been changing for her lately and she couldn't have been happier with her new life.

_If only he knew about Lucy..._ She thought, a knot of fear and guilt forming in the pit of her stomach.

She looked at the barber's face as he surveyed the crowd and tried to push the thought from her mind.

She heard the door open at the same time as he did, and both heads turned to see a huge man with a beard walk into the shop. The pair turned to look at each other.

"That one's mine." Sweeney stated. Mrs. Lovett smirked.

"Not bloody likely! Can you imagine 'im fallin' down the chute? The whole city would 'ear! I'll get 'im downstairs. I doubt 'e'd turn me away." She glanced at the man and then back to Sweeney again.

Sweeney gave her a devilish grin. "True. But I 'aven't 'ad a customer all day!"

The baker sighed in mock defeat. "Alright..."

The barber's grin widened, and he was leaning down to kiss her when he glanced over her shoulder, out the window, and froze. His smile faded and the lights she had only recently put in his eyes went out. He grabbed Mrs. Lovett's shoulders, making sure she was facing him.

"When they ask, it was me. You never 'urt anyone. It was me. Always me." His voice was low and urgent.

The woman was extremely confused. "What?"

Before she had time to answer, four policemen ran through the pie shop door. Two of them grabbed Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney and pinned their arms behind their backs while the other two stood at the door. All the while the baker questioned them and protested loudly while the crowd in her shop stared. The barber remained silent.

"What is goin' on?" Mrs. Lovett yelled.

"You know exactly what's goin' on." The officer holding her hands behind her back told her. Just as she realized, another policeman emerged from the parlor.

"All the evidence is there, sir." He told one of the policemen at the door. "Just like the boy said."

The woman's heart sank as those words echoed in her mind.

"Toby..." She whispered, almost inaudibly.

He found out. She had been hoping this day would never come. He knew. He knew what they'd done and he'd turned her in, knowing the probable outcome. She'd lost him.

"Alright," she heard someone say, "get them out of 'ere."

She felt herself being nudged along by the policeman, out of the shop and into the street, Sweeney walking at her side, staring at nothing.

She had no idea what was going to happen, not to her or Sweeney or Toby.

She was terrified.

As they passed a small alley, Mrs. Lovett turned her head and saw her boy, sitting alone, watching them. She whispered his name. He did nothing but stare. In his eyes were anger and betrayal and disgust, things that no child should ever have to hold in their hearts. She'd broken him entirely and she knew it. He was no longer the child she'd tried so hard to preserve. She'd ruined every bit of the normal, happy life she'd tried to give him and then some. Her heart shattered like glass.

She turned her head to the other side to look at Sweeney, her last flicker of hope in the world. He lifted his head and returned her gaze, but not with fear. With determination. And she could tell, without doubt, that it wasn't determination to save himself.

She drowned in his eyes as he mouthed the words _I will keep you safe._


	7. We don't belong here

**Hello again! Just wanted to thank everyone again for the great reviews! Last chapter coming soon!**

Mrs. Lovett was uncharacteristically quiet as she walked down the hallway of Fogg's asylum, followed closely by the decrepit Mr. Fogg. Her red curls were even messier than usual, but the straight jacket prevented her from brushing them away.

"'Ere we are." Fogg's voice said from behind her, and they stopped in front of an ancient looking door.

"You belong in 'ere." The man said to her, grabbing his huge ring of keys and putting one in the lock of the door.

"I'm not mad." She whispered, so quietly that she was surprised he even heard her, but he did, and snickered at her. It was a disgusting sight.

"For you, love, it was either mad or dead. Consider yourself lucky." Without another word, Mr. Fogg opened the door and shoved Mrs. Lovett inside. The door closed behind her and she could hear the man lock it and walk away.

Mrs. Lovett felt her stomach twist. She'd only seen this room in her worst nightmares. It reeked of a million different things she didn't care to think of, and the room was filled with women, all wearing straight jackets, all with red hair, and all looking positively terrified. Each and every one had the same unsettling quality about them, like the feeling you get when you see something beautiful that's been broken irreparably. She heard moans and sobs but couldn't find who was making them. She shivered.

She walked over to an empty spot on the floor and sat down, Mr. Fogg's words echoing in her head.

"It was either mad or dead."

She knew that much was true. If they had thought for a second that she was sane, they would've had a rope around her neck in a heartbeat. She knew she should've felt comforted by that, lucky, even, that she was alive, but she didn't. Another image kept flashing in her mind.

Sweeney, mouthing the words _I will keep you safe._

The judge (not Turpin, thank god, but someone else) had ruled that Sweeney was also insane. They hadn't found out his true identity. He was somewhere in the asylum, too. But what did he intend to do to save her? And what if he did? She knew, deep down, that she didn't deserve it. She had kept his wife from him. She had made him believe Lucy was dead. She didn't deserve his affection of his help. She didn't deserve anything.

And Toby... Her poor boy... She'd just tried to give him a loving home. then he found out about what she really was and told the police, knowing full well she'd probably be hanged. He hated her that much.

All these thoughts swirled in her head for what felt like an eternity, until Mr. Fogg unlocked the door again and entered the room, all the women shrinking away from him. He looked around the room until his eyes rested on Mrs. Lovett.

"Get up." He told her. "They want you to talk to a doctor."

Mrs. Lovett rose silently and followed Mr. Fogg down another hallway.

_Suppose they don't want me killing any patients,_ She thought, coldly amused.

The man led her to a room at the end of a hall, opening the door for her. Immediately she noticed three chairs, and Sweeney Todd sitting in one of them, tied in his own straight jacket, staring at nothing.

"Sweeney!" She gasped when she saw him. He turned to look at her as the door was shut and locked behind her. His features softened from a look of anger to a look of relief.

"Nellie..." He breathed. Mrs. Lovett sat in the chair next to him.

"I'm going to get us out of here." He told her. "We'll be safe."

Guilt rose up in the baker like a great monster. Tears began to fall without warning and she knew she had to tell him. He had to know who he was risking his life for.

"Sweeney... I did something horrible."

The barber gave her a half smile. "So did I."

"No," She insisted, "not that. When you first arrived, I never told you..." She gulped. "Lucy's alive." She paused, and her words quickened as she continued. "She did take poison but she survived but she went mad and now-"

"Shhhh..." Sweeney interrupted gently. "I know, love."

Mrs. Lovett was confused. "You do?"

He nodded. "You can't lie to me, pet. I saw 'er on the street the day I arrived. I knew she was gone. I just 'ad to know 'ow. You told me."

The woman couldn't believe it. "And you knew I wouldn't 'ave told you she was alive?"

Sweeney laughed and leaned over to give her a small kiss on the forehead. "I forgave you."

Just then, a man with a bag over his shoulder opened the door and came in, closing it after him and locking them in.

"Hello!" He said, smiling, setting down his bag and sitting down in the chair across from them. "My name is Doctor Gareth. I've been sent to help you."

Mrs. Lovett glanced at Sweeney, who stared the doctor dead in the eye. The doctor stared back, waiting for some reaction to his statement. Getting none, he continued.

"Let's just get straight to the point, shall we?" He said, as if this were all some grand game. "Tell me, why was it that you did the things you did?"

Silence.

The doctor laughed awkwardly. "Well," he said, "maybe these will refresh your memory."

He reached into his bag and brought out a box. It was a box that both Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett knew very well. The woman noticed Sweeney's eyes widen as Dr. Gareth opened the box to reveal his seven precious razors.

So fast that she barely knew what was happening, Sweeney charged at the doctor, smashing him back into the wall hard and knocking the box onto the floor. His head smacked the wall with enough force to knock him out, his body falling limply to the floor. Sweeney then went over to Mrs. Lovett and began undoing the knots of her straight jacket with his teeth. Soon she was able to wriggle free of her bonds, grab one of the razors and cut her accomplice free as well. He quickly grabbed a razor and shoved the rest in his pockets. As he did, the baker slit Dr. Gareth's throat, barely noticing the rush of power over the rush of adrenaline as she stole his keys. Before she unlocked the door, she looked at Sweeney.

"Thank you." She told him.

He smiled ever so slightly.

"Ready?" He asked.

She nodded, and unlocked the door.


	8. Our future

Sweeney watched as Mrs. Lovett unlocked the door with trembling hands. He didn't like to see her afraid; it made him uncomfortable. She was such a strong person most of the time and if anything frightened her, it had to be extremely serious. Sweeney knew, as she did, that if they were caught there would be no convincing the court of their insanity. No insane people would have been able to do what they were doing. They'd be hanged. The barber didn't fear death, but his accomplice did, and he knew he wouldn't be able to watch her die. He couldn't fail her like that.

He poked his head out of the door and, seeing no one, nodded to Mrs. Lovett, who followed him down the hall. He tried not to focus on the terror in her eyes and they crept past empty rooms and rooms full of screaming inmates, hoping they wouldn't run into anyone in the hall. Sweeney glanced over his shoulder at least every 15 seconds to make sure that Mrs. Lovett was still following.

They were almost at the front door, when Sweeney peered around the last corner to see Mr. Fogg sitting on a stool, snoring. He turned to his partner in crime and held a finger to his lips. She nodded vigorously, fear growing ever stronger in her features.

Sweeney stepped slowly around the corner and approached the sleeping Fogg. He quietly unfolded his razor and, staying close to the wall so as to avoid the blood, cut the man's throat. Blood coated the floor in front of him and Sweeney motioned for the baker to follow him out the front door.

The pair opened the door to see that it was dark outside, with the pollution and clouds blocking out the stars. Only a few people were walking the streets and no one was paying attention to the strange man and woman leaving the asylum. Sweeney felt the baker slip her hand into his as they hurried away from the huge, ominous building.

They walked until they found a dark alley. They both slid into the shadows and looked at each other. The woman's gorgeous brown eyes seemed to shine in the darkness as he watched them.

"What do we do?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"We're going to run." The man replied. "Do you have money?"

She shook her head. "It's all in the shop."

Sweeney gave a weak smile. "Mine, too. We'll go back and get it all, and then we leave London. For good."

"Where will we go?" Mrs. Lovett asked, her eyes welling up with tears. Wether from fear or exhaustion or relief at leaving the madhouse, he didn't know. He put a hand to her face, stroking it lightly.

"Wherever you'd like."

The woman gave a nervous laugh as the first tear fell. Sweeney wiped it away with his thumb. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, feeling her heart beat with his.

"It's going to be alright..." He whispered in her ear. "We'll be alright." And he knew they would be. They'd find a home, somewhere nice. Maybe even by the sea, if that was still what she wanted. Anywhere was fine with him. He had her, and he knew that from now on, she was all he needed.

**So that's the end of it! I appreciate all the lovely reviews and lovely people taking the time to read my story! I hope you enjoyed it!**


End file.
